


all dressed up with no place to go

by xslytherclawx



Series: HP Rare Pair Bingo - Round 2 [2]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Muggle, Established Relationship, Halloween, Harry Potter Rare Pair Bingo: Round 2, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-01
Updated: 2020-11-01
Packaged: 2021-03-08 17:15:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,523
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27320308
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/xslytherclawx/pseuds/xslytherclawx
Summary: Neither Neville nor Anthony expected their first (second?) Halloween together to be like this.
Relationships: Anthony Goldstein/Neville Longbottom
Series: HP Rare Pair Bingo - Round 2 [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1980191
Kudos: 2
Collections: Harry Potter Fanfic Discord Server Monthly Challenge, Harry Potter Rare Pair Bingo: Round Two!, xslytherclawx & thestias's harry potter multiverse, xslytherclawx's Prompt Collection, xslytherclawx's jewish fic, xslytherclawx’s events collection





	all dressed up with no place to go

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [so let the party & the sounds rock on](https://archiveofourown.org/works/21264581) by [xslytherclawx](https://archiveofourown.org/users/xslytherclawx/pseuds/xslytherclawx). 



> This is a sequel (of sorts) to my Halloween fic from last year!  
> Happy Halloween, even if it's a weird one.  
> (this fic does take place in, uh, our universe, but references to current events are pretty minimal)

“I have to admit,” Anthony says dryly, “I didn’t expect our first Halloween as a couple to be like this.”

“Second,” Neville corrects idly. He’s much too focused on Trevor at the moment to be of much use, as much as Anthony came all the way here for him.

Well, “all the way” being a ten minute drive from one development in their suburban town to the other.

But still.

“What?”

“It’s our second Halloween as a couple. Technically. Fred and George’s party was before Halloween last year.”

“Oh,” Anthony says. “But I went trick-or-treating with my cousins on Halloween last year. We didn’t really… see each other.”

Neville understands what he means. Honestly, he agrees. It’s weird. But. Well. There’s not much they can do about it. 

Anthony came over last night to spend the weekend, and he suspects this would be a lot more exciting in a dorm and not, you know, in his childhood bedroom which feels embarrassingly juvenile, and where his parents could, in theory, walk in at any time (though he trusts they won’t).

Though he supposes if he lived in a dorm, he’d probably have a roommate who could walk in at any time.

But that’d have to be less mortifying than his parents.

“Well, the Rocky Horror stream isn’t until midnight, right?” Neville asks.

“Right,” Anthony says. Like Neville, he’s living at home this semester – hell, this school year – and taking only online classes. Some of their friends, like Luna and Terry, opted to postpone college for the year in the face of online-only classes.

Neville can’t quite blame them, but his parents are lawyers, and they can afford to pay his school’s tuition. Even if they agreed to let him take as few classes as possible, knowing that they’ll probably have to pay for another year at the end of it.

Anthony stands up, stretches, and kisses him. “Can I help with Trevor?”

And oh, that’s just it, isn’t it? Not only is Anthony gorgeous, smart, and  _ nice, _ but he actually  _ likes _ Trevor! And he doesn’t think Neville is weird. Well. Maybe he just thinks their weirdness is compatible, and in that, Neville can’t bring himself to disagree.

“I’m actually almost done,” Neville says. “But thanks.”

Anthony says the only reason he doesn’t have any sort of amphibian or reptile as a pet is that he has a cat and a dog at home who are constantly at war. Neville’s seen their epic battles. He wouldn’t want to bring a toad into the crossfire.

Anthony sits down on Neville’s bed as Neville finishes with Trevor’s terrarium. After making sure everything is properly secured (Trevor has an escape artist streak, though fortunately he’s the only pet in the house, and even their housekeepers have always been warned that Trevor is family, not an intruder), he goes to sit down next to him.

Anthony pulls him into a kiss. “Hi.”

“Hi,” Neville says.

He could – and has – kiss Anthony for hours. He pulls Anthony down onto the bed and they kiss for a while. This has been an unexpected bonus of online classes; Anthony doesn’t physically need to be in Philly for class, so instead of spending the weekends with his parents, he can spend his weekends with Neville.

(Not that they don’t text daily and video chat regularly, but still).

He thinks, privately, that if Fred and George  _ did _ have a Halloween party this year, he probably wouldn’t refuse Fred’s offer of free condoms and lube, but, well, he’s pretty stocked up now.

* * *

They’re getting dressed again for lunch (they do, after all, have to leave Neville’s room at some point) when Anthony asks about his costume for the party.

Which is when Neville remembers that Fred and George  _ are _ having a Halloween party (though nothing like the year before), and he  _ has _ been invited (though he doesn’t really know why; he’s never had the feeling that Fred or George – or Ron, for that matter – like him much, but, well, he  _ is _ one of Ginny’s best friends).

Anthony looks at him, and one of the things Neville loves best about him is how easily Anthony can read him. “You don’t have a costume?”

“I completely forgot the party was tonight. I mean, I have a costume for Rocky Horror!”

“I  _ guess _ you could use your Rocky Horror costume for Fred and George’s party,” Anthony says diplomatically.

Neville shakes his head. “Fred would know. And he’d never let me live it down. Shit.”

Anthony kisses him and cradles his face in his hands. “Mark my words, Neville: we’ll  _ find you _ a costume.”

Just then, Neville’s stomach growls, and Anthony grins. “But maybe after lunch.”

Neville takes him by the hand and leads him down to the kitchen. Neville’s parents are kind of weirdly into the whole kitschy Halloween angle, so there are plenty of themed treats to pick from.

His father is sitting at the kitchen table, working on his laptop.

“Needed a change of scenery,” he says when Neville asks, which Neville figures means that his mother is probably talking to a client and needs the office to herself. “You kids want me to make you something?”

Frank Longbottom is not used to working from home. Neville knows that. He grew up pretty used to having the house to himself (well, and his grandmother, who’s probably in the living room), and it’s weird to have his dad offer to cook his lunch.

He and Anthony exchange a look. 

“We were probably just going to order pizza and eat snacks,” Neville says.

Neville knows his dad is probably itching for a chance to be useful. “I can order pizza.”

“My parents gave me some money,” Anthony offers, which is incredibly sweet of him. Even though they both know what Neville’s dad is going to say.

“Absolutely not. You’re our guest, and we don’t make guests pay for their own food in this house.”

Their guest who’s fucking their son, but Neville doesn’t say that out loud. He’s sure his parents know, of course. How could they not know? The number of eighteen-year-old guys who have their boyfriends over every weekend (for the whole weekend) and never sleep with them is probably  _ really _ low.

“If you’re sure, Mr. Longbottom.”

“Of course I’m sure.”

They’ve reached a point that whenever Neville goes over Anthony’s house, his parents are offended if he so much as  _ asks _ for food instead of helping himself (that is, if Anthony’s parents aren’t home to all but force food on him when he walks in the door), so Neville doesn't think Anthony actually  _ expects _ to have to contribute to the pizza fund (Neville wouldn’t let him even if it were just them), but he  _ is _ always polite.

That doesn’t mean Neville isn’t going to tease him about it later. 

* * *

An hour and a half later, Neville is wearing an impressively cobbled-together Nick Miller costume. Though, really, not having shaved in a couple of days helps.

“When you go to a few cons every summer, you learn how to pull together a quick costume,” Anthony says.

“I think Terry would disagree,” Neville says, knowing full well Terry’s insistence on crafting the perfect costume every year.

“Terry’s a cosplay snob,” Anthony says. He kisses Neville quickly. 

“Which is exactly why I’m not dating him.”

Anthony huffs out a laugh. “I hope it’s more than that.”

Neville taps his chin in mock thought. “Nope. It’s just the costume thing.”

“Nothing to do with our shared interests or finding me attractive or getting along with me?”

“Nah. It’s pretty much just because you can pull a costume together in an hour.”

“Half an hour. After lunch.”

“Even better,” Neville says.

Anthony grins and kisses him. “Well, for what it’s worth,  _ I’m  _ dating  _ you _ because you’re adorable, funny, and we have a lot in common. I  _ thought _ you were nice, too, but I guess I was wrong about that.”

They’ve been together for a year, which means Neville always kind of figured he’d be over the butterflies by now. And mostly he is. But sometimes – like right now, with Anthony looking at him like he’s the only thing in the world that matters, calling him adorable… the butterflies come back with a vengeance.

“I love you,” Neville says, dropping the game.

It’s not the first time he’s said it. It’s not even the hundredth. It’s  _ probably _ not even the thousandth.

But Anthony lights right up and tells him that he loves him, too, of course.

A year ago, Neville was completely unable to believe his luck.

It wasn’t that he thought Anthony  _ didn’t _ like him back then. But he kind of thought that Anthony would get bored of him. Realize that he could do so much better. That Neville was actually kind of boring, and not anywhere near smart enough to date the fucking salutatorian of their high school class – someone whose idea of a safety school was Penn State!

And yet.

And yet, despite all of that, Anthony’s only seemed to grow to like Neville  _ more. _

Neville still can’t  _ really _ believe it, but the evidence is impossible to deny.

**Author's Note:**

> Come visit me on [tumblr](http://xslytherclawx.tumblr.com)!  
> Please feel free to join my [Harry Potter discord server](https://discord.gg/yb6bS3c)!


End file.
